Lyra's mother,
Elizabeth, hummed merrily in her kitchen as she prepared dinner. The
roast was nearly finished and the biscuits were just beginning to
brown when she heard an alarming crash from her daughter's
bedroom.

"Lyra? Are you
alright?" Her mother called. There was no response. She glanced at
the calendar and sighed.

"Lyra? Answer me
sweetheart. Are you alright? Do you need me to come up there?" Her
mother called again. Elizabeth heard her daughter's door creak
open. Elizabeth glanced up from her cooking to look towards the
sound. There standing before her was a large brown wolf with glowing
green eyes. The creature let out a low growl and Elizabeth frowned.

"Don't you growl
at me young lady!" She scolded the wolf. Lyra snorted sarcastically
and rolled her eyes before padding over to the table. With a small
leap she jumped onto the chair and pouted.

"Look I know it
isn't pleasant, but you simply are going to have to learn to deal
with your condition." Her mother lectured. Lyra sighed and rested
her head on the table. There was a light scratching at the back door.

"Well you're
late." Her mother said simply. The wolf sighed and rubbed lightly
against Elizabeth's legs. Lyra's father glanced at his daughter
and wined softly.

"Don't ask me why
she's sulking Rex, she's your daughter…" Elizabeth exclaimed
as she set about putting food on the table. Rex trotted to his
daughter's side and nuzzled her gently. Lyra growled and tried to
shrug him off. Rex persisted and Lyra quickly turned and aimed a bite
at his ear.

"Lyra! Don't snap
at your father." Elizabeth said as she set the rolls on the table.

"Munph…" Lyra
huffed angrily as she once again laid her head on the table.

Dinner passed with
only minor incidents and Lyra shut herself in her room and managed to
turn on her stereo. The heavy rock actually shook the empty glasses
on the table and Rex whimpered.

"I don't know how
she can stand to have her music that loud with her hearing being as
sensitive as it is." Elizabeth said frowning. Rex cowered under the
table.

"Rex, if you want
her to stop go talk to her." Elizabeth said firmly. Rex looked up
at his wife with pitiful eyes and whined further.

"Pouting is not
going to make the music stop." Elizabeth said as she tidied up the
kitchen. With a heavy sigh Rex slowly made his way towards his
daughter's room.

Lyra?
Rex thought softly.

Go away. Came
an angry reply.

Lyra sweetie talk
to me… Rex said as he pawed at his daughter's door.

I don't want to
talk to you right now. Lyra snapped.

I can't stand to
see you so unhappy. Please honey just come out. Rex persisted.

Dad knock it off!
You just want me to turn down my music. Lyra growled.

Well
that would be nice but that's not the only reason I want to talk to
you. Lyra I know you blame me for this but I didn't think it would
carry on to my pups. Rex said sadly to Lyra's door.

I'm not a pup
dad! Lyra screamed in her mind, I'm a human! I'm human
damn it! Rex winced as he recognized the mental sound of his
daughter crying. The music was turned up even louder and Rex's tail
dropped between his legs as he sulked off to his study.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lyra woke up to find
herself curled into a ball at the foot of her bed completely naked.
With a sigh she looked through her closet for clean jeans and a
t-shirt. She quickly changed and shuffled off to breakfast.

"Do you have your
voice back?" Her mom asked ignoring the death glares Lyra was
shooting at her.

"Yeah, I have my
voice back." Lyra said bitterly.

"Good, so you can go
to school today then." Her mother replied.

"Fantastic." Lyra
replied sarcastically. There was a loud yawn and Rex entered the
kitchen. His sleepy face was almost completely consumed by his nearly
black beard. Elizabeth tucked a stray wisp of blonde hair behind her
ear and quickly kissed her husband.

"Morning!" He said
cheerfully.

"Why is everyone so
damn happy?" Lyra asked as she sulked over her cereal.

"Same as always, it
hurt like hell and was really embarrassing, but I'm alive." Lyra
said shrugging.

"I hate that you
have to go for treatment every month. I mean, I don't even really
know what your condition involves and you have to suffer through
it…it must be horrible Ly." Anna said sympathetically.

"You have no idea…"
Lyra muttered softly.

"Well maybe sometime
I could go with you for moral support." Anna offered.

"As much as I'd
like that, I don't want anyone seeing me like that…" Lyra said
grimly.

"Okay, just…well
I'm here you know." Anna said softly. She rested her hand on
Lyra's shoulder.

"Thanks Anna."
Lyra said grinning a little. Lyra entered her first period class and
immediately noticed an unfamiliar scent. The hair on the back of her
neck stood on end when she realized that the new scent was laced with
werewolf blood.

"Oh, I forgot to
tell you, we got a transfer student." Anna said nodding towards the
other side of the classroom. Lyra's breath caught.

Shit. She
thought worriedly. The new girl sat calmly in the corner reading a
book about ancient myths. The girl had platinum blonde hair and deep
blue eyes. Lyra scanned the girl's outfit and gulped. Concealed
expertly beneath the folds of her clothes were several stakes and one
or two silver knives. Lyra also could smell a vial of holy water.

Great, a hunter.
That's all I need right now. Lyra thought bitterly. The new
girl looked curiously in Lyra's direction and seemed to study her
for a moment. The huntress opened her mouth to say something but the
teacher entered the room and everyone grew silent.

"Welcome back Miss
Goodman," Mr. Keeler said to Lyra, "I'm glad to see your
treatment went well."

"Thanks Mr. K."
Lyra said blushing a little. The new girl raised an eyebrow at Lyra
and then went back to the book she was reading. Lyra nervously sat in
her seat half expecting to have a stake driven through her heart at
any second. When the bell finally rang at the end of class Lyra tried
to hurry out of the classroom but found that the huntress was
approaching her.

Be cool Lyra, she
thought to herself, be cool.

"Hello, I don't
believe I met you yesterday." The girl said pleasantly.

"Um, yeah, I have
this condition and I had to be treated for it…I'm usually gone
once a month or so." Lyra said nervously.

"That's too bad.
Well anyway, I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself." The
girl replied.

"Oh, well I'm
Lyra." The werewolf said managing to smile weakly.

"My name is
Tabitha." The huntress said as she outstretched her hand. Lyra
timidly took it and firmly shook the new girl's hand.

"I'm glad to meet
you Lyra," Tabitha said, "maybe we'll see each other around."

"Yeah, sure…"
Lyra said struggling to keep her heart beat under control.

"Well I've got to
go to class, see you later Lyra." Tabitha called as she walked
away.

"Yeah, later…"
Lyra managed weakly. It took a few minutes after Tabitha left for
Lyra to regain the ability to walk.

"God I was sure she
was going to kill me…" Lyra whispered softly. Slowly Lyra made
her way to her next period class and prayed that the young huntress
wouldn't be in anymore of her classes.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You have the exact
same schedule as the new girl?" Anna asked Lyra at lunch.

"It would seem so…"
Lyra said as she thunked her head against the cafeteria table.

"I don't
understand what the problem is, she seems nice enough." Anna mused
as she looked over at the blonde girl eating lunch by herself in the
corner.

"Look, she just
creeps me out a little okay?" Lyra said defensively as she looked
up.

"Maybe you like
her." Anna teased.

"Oh shut up Anna."
Lyra said groaning.

"Well I'm no
expert but I think she's cute." Anna said grinning at her
friend's reaction.

"Anna, go to hell
okay?" Lyra said glaring at her friend.

"You first." Anna
said grinning. Lyra sighed and laid her head on the table again. She
closed her eyes and listened to the various cafeteria noises. She
could not only pick out individual conversations but also noted that
the vending machine across the room was humming abnormally. Suddenly
Lyra realized that footsteps were approaching her table. The werewolf
sniffed the air and nearly choked when she recognized the scent of
the huntress.

"Um…Lyra? Are you
alright?" Tabitha's voice asked with concern.

"I'm alright."
Lyra said without opening her eyes.

"Why are you laying
down on the cafeteria table?" Tabitha asked.

"I left my pillow at
home." Lyra muttered sarcastically.

"You'll have to
forgive her, she's not in a god mood today…though she's never
really in a 'good' mood." Anna said chuckling softly.

"I see, I'll go
then…" The new girl said sadly.

Yes! She's
leaving! Lyra thought triumphantly.

"Oh, you don't
have to go." Anna said good-naturedly. Lyra nearly ripped out
Anna's vocal chords.

"Really? Can I sit
here or would it not be okay?" Tabitha asked glancing worriedly at
Lyra.

No go on, invite my
murder to dine with us! Lyra thought bitterly.

"Don't mind her.
You'll get used to her strange behavior." Anna said patting Lyra
on the head. Lyra sighed and buried her head in her hands.

"Um…Lyra?"
Tabitha asked shyly.

"Yeah Tabitha?"
Lyra mumbled into her arms.

"Would you look at
me please?" Tabitha asked softly. Slowly Lyra lifted her head and
looked into Tabitha's eyes. Tabitha studied the grouchy girl for a
few minutes before smiling.